Concentrator.



PATENTED SEPT. 26, 1905.

H. L. LIGHTNER.

GONGENTRATOR.

APPLICATION "FILED D110. 27, 1904.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. HENRY LIGHTNER, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIApASSIGNOR, BY

DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, OF ONE THIRD TO WILLIAM PRIEST AND ONE-THIRD TO HENRY FEIGE, SAN FRANCISCO,

CALIFORNIA.

CONCENTRATOR. I

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRYIL. LIGHTNER, a-

citizen of the United States, residing in the city and county of San Francisco and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Concentrators, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an apparatus for the I suitable framework, and B is a tub or vat of any suitable or desired diameter supported thereon; Through the sides of this tub are made a series ofvertically-disposed slots or channels C,and these slots or channels are controlled by gates, as at D, having screw-threaded stems and hand-wheels or equivalent operating devices, as at E. Suitably suspended above the center of this tub is a receiver 3, andt is a pipe or sluice through which the material to be concentrated and mixed with water is delivered into the receiver. This receiver has holes or openings made in the bottom, as

shown at 19,so that the pulp may be discharged therefrom into the tub. Through the center of this receiver passes a vertical pipe 5, and the pipe and receiver are suspended by ball or equivalent bearings, as shown at 18. 'Upon the pipe is fixed a wheel 12.

11 is a disk having a frictional surface of any suitable or well-known character adapted to contact with the periphery of the wheel 12. This disk is mounted upon a shaft 10 and is revoluble by a pulley or equivalent driver.

11 is a screw by which the shaft may be moved longitudinally, so as to force the face of the disk into sufficient contact with the wheel 12 to transmit motion, and thus revolve the shaft 5.

Upon the lower end of the shaft 5 and below the receiver 3 are radially-disposed tubular arms 15, having perforations in them which are substantially horizontal.

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed December 27, 1904:. Serial No- 288,465.

Patented Sept. 26, mos.

7 represents an air-blast apparatus of any suitable or well-known construction, and a discharge-pipe from said apparatus connects with the pipe 5, with which it is in line.

The gates D have openings made through them, as shown at d, and the gates may be so placed that these openings are near the bottom of the tub B at the commencement of the operation.

Material being delivered into the receiver 3 is allowed to fiow out through the openings in the bottom, as at 19, and the air-blast apparatus being simultaneously in operation and the tube 5 and arms 15 revolving within the tub or tank, the material being substantially at the level .of the revolving tubes or arms 15, the air discharged through the jet-openings while the tubes are revolving about the center will act to blow the material outwardly toward the periphery of the tank, and the heavier portion will gradually sink to the bottom of the tub, While the lighter portion will by this action discharge through the openings 0?. As the heavier valuable concentrates accumulate the apparatus is elevated. To effect this, the moving parts are suspended upon a frame 8, which is slidable in guides upon the main frame and is operated by a screw 9. The gates D are also raised in such amanner that the discharge-openings d are maintained with proper relation to the gradually-rising surface of the material within the tank. Thus as the revolving arms are raised the gates will also be raised and the discharge continued until the tank is substantially full of the heavier precipitates, while the lighter portion is being discharged through the opening in the gate.

Any. rate of speed may be given to the re- Volving parts by raising or lowering the drivewheel 12, so that its contact with the disk 11 will be nearer to the periphery or the center, as the case may be. This variation in the position of the driving-wheel may be-effected by sliding it upon a feather on the tube 5 or by so mounting the disk 11 that it. can be moved with relation to the wheel. In the present case the wheel is shown as turning within a slotted carrier 13, through which a screw 14 passes, and this screw is revoluble, so as to advance the carrier and the wheel in either direction, as previously described.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a concentrator,a horizontally-supported tank having peripheral discharge-openings, means for supplying said tank with pulp and Water, an air-blast apparatus, a vertical revoluble conductor extending centrally into the tank, hollow arms fixed to and radiating from the bottom of said conductor and having perforations whereby jets of air are discharged over and through the material within the tank.

2. A concentrator consisting of a substantially horizontal tank having vertical slots in its sides, gates controlling said slots having discharge-openings made through them,means including a centrally-supported receiver having outlets in its lower portion for feeding pulp and water into the tank, an air-blast apparatus, a tube connecting with the conductor thereof extending vertically through the receiver and into the center of the pan, means by which said tube is rotated, hollow radial arms projecting from the bottom of the tube having air-jet openings made in the sides.

3. In a concentrator, a tub having vertical slots made around its periphery, slidable gates controlling said slots and having openings made through them, means by which the gates may be moved to gradually raise the openings, means including a centrally-located receiver having outlets in its lower portion for supplying material into the tub, an air-blast apparatus, a vertical and revoluble conductor extending through and below the receiver to the center and bottom of the tub, hollow radial arms having their inner ends fitted to the single central tube, said arms having air-jet perforations made in their sides, and means by which the tube and arms are revolu ble within the tub.

4. A concentrator comprising a tub with vertical slots made around its periphery, vertically-movable gates having openings made therethrough, means for supplying pulp to the tub, an air-blast apparatus, a revolnble vertically-adjustable tube connected with said apparatus and having radially perforatml arms projecting from the lower end, and means by which said tube and arms may be gradually raised in unison with the movement of the gates.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HENRY L. Ll.(1 ll TN Ell.

Witnesses:

Grno. T. KNOX, E. VERGLZ. 

